Liberatore takes 'positive step' as he vies for '24 rotation spot

ST. LOUIS -- Perhaps the most important question the Cardinals can answer in these last two months of the season is just how many pitchers they’ll need to acquire in the winter to get back in contention for 2024. First, they’ll have to figure out what they already have.

Dakota Hudson made a strong first bid for a rotation spot with seven strong innings Wednesday, the first five of them hitless. His primary competition got his shot the next day, and things didn’t go nearly as smoothly right off the bat. Matthew Liberatore allowed a couple of tape-measure home runs in the second inning of a 5-3 loss to the Twins on Thursday evening at Busch Stadium.

No matter how things go in their final 52 games, the Cardinals know they’ll have plenty of work to do this winter plugging holes in their rotation. In fact, even without recent vacancies, they would have had to address a pitching staff that ranks 22nd in MLB in ERA.

They’ve already signaled they plan on being aggressive in pursuing free agents and lining up trade packages, but it would aid them greatly if at least one of their young pitchers aced the audition the rest of this season represents.

Before Thursday’s game, manager Oliver Marmol explicitly stated that both pitchers will be given plenty of runway to win one of those spots. He said he had a good conversation with Liberatore before Thursday’s game, encouraging the 6-foot-4 lefty -- who once was one of the top pitching prospects in the game -- to relax and show what he can do.

“Put yourself in Libby’s shoes. You’re pitching for your life every time you’re up here, right? It’s like, ‘If I do well, maybe I get another start. If I don’t, maybe I’m going back to Triple-A,’” Marmol said. “It’s hard to just let it eat and whatever happens, happens. You’ve got to get into the mindset of doing that.”

The Cardinals think the key to success for Liberatore is to sync up his delivery so that he is able to tap into the high-90s fastball he has flashed since coming from Tampa Bay in a 2020 trade. Many of his outings have featured lower-octane stuff, including Thursday’s. Liberatore averaged 92.9 mph with his fastball, about five ticks shy of the maximum the Cardinals have seen from him.

But Liberatore steadied himself after that rough second inning, mixing in other pitches as the game progressed to go 5 2/3 innings while allowing five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out one. Marmol called it a positive step for the 23-year-old. Liberatore said he’s viewing this as the best opportunity yet to gain a foothold in the Major Leagues. He has been working on improving his core and leg strength and simplifying his mechanics after he felt out of sync the last time he was in the big leagues.

“Any time as a starter you can get on a consistent routine and make consistent starts, it puts you in position to have success,” Liberatore said. “The rest is on me to go out there and execute.”

One of the home runs Liberatore gave up (to Michael A. Taylor) came on a 92.3 mph fastball in the bottom of the strike zone. Taylor catapulted the pitch 423 feet after mashing it at 110.4 mph. The other homer came on a curveball after he fell behind Ryan Jeffers 1-0 in the count. That one traveled 410 feet after being hit at 107.1 mph. Inefficiency also plagued Liberatore, as he was chased from the game in the sixth inning after throwing 93 pitches.

Liberatore and Hudson aren’t the only pitchers in the Cardinals’ system who could snatch one of those rotation spots going into 2024. Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy are in Triple-A vying for their opportunity, and Marmol said on Thursday that the team has discussed stretching out left-handed reliever Zack Thompson -- their 2019 first-round Draft pick -- in the offseason to allow him to compete for one of those vacant rotation spots in Spring Training. Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz are both under contract through the 2025 season. The team traded pending free agents Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty before the Trade Deadline.

“I think it’s not fair to him to bounce him to a starter right now. If we need a spot start that’s different, but I think that's a really good offseason conversation,” Marmol said of Thompson, who worked around a leadoff hit to Jorge Polanco to pitch a scoreless eighth inning Thursday.